Merciless Union by Faith Summers

12

Lucca

As Aiden rests his elbows on the kitchen table and steeples his fingers, I can honestly say he looks as shocked as I feel.

The shock took me the moment Aria said Raphael killed her mother because of this secret.

When she mentioned Gina Delatorre and Pasha, the sting of betrayal pierced me once more in a way I couldn’t quite describe.

Obviously if Pasha knows about the fucking secret it means he was equally responsible for the deaths of my family too.

I have given my life to the Bratva and served Grigori and Pasha all my years. I was raised to serve them and born into this world knowing I would die in service to them.

I’ve hated Pasha for as long as I can remember, but I was respectful to him because of Grigori. That respect made me their fucking puppet, and like an idiot, I did as I was told and served, and served like the dutiful servant. All the while, I did it with honor and loyalty in my heart the way my father taught me.

I did it, never knowing the truth behind the mask, Pasha was.

The way Aria explained the conversation she heard between Pasha and Raphael made it sound like this big secret was more about Pasha.

If I’m right, what the fuck did he do?

What was so big that so many had to die to keep a fucking secret hidden?

My family, Timothy and his, and Aria’s mother.

Was the secret it in line with what Pasha did to Aria and Ivy’s little girl?

I worked out that it had to be Jon who tracked down Ivy and killed her.

The quickness in which she was killed could only mean someone like Jon found her. As to how he found her is anyone’s guess. I can only assume someone double-crossed me somewhere along the line. I don’t have time to figure out who it could be, and it doesn’t matter now.

I can’t bring her back.

Pasha revealed Ivy to the Brotherhood to eradicate any help I could have gotten from the Yurkov. And to try to fucking kill me. Having the whole fucking Brotherhood on your back and being labeled an enemy to the Bratva would do that.

I haven’t even had a moment to be grateful or relieved I found Aria.

All I can be is glad she’s not with her father. The instant I saw the bruises on her face and the swelling, I knew he hit her several times.

I’m also fucking glad she’s not anywhere near Pasha.

She still doesn’t know I’m aware of what he did to her. I hoped she would tell me but she didn’t. It was like she was trying to avoid the topic, so I never told her about Ivy.

That talk is to come, though. The same as the other discussion we need to have about us.

Aria and I talked about the significant events that were happening outside of our relationship. But other than my apology for the way I treated her after I discovered what her father did, we didn’t talk about us as a couple.

That’s going to be a difficult conversation because I know if I want to keep her I’m going to have to tell her certain truths and accept the consequences.

While Aria told me what was going on, I held off on any explanation or elaboration of some of the things I already knew, or anything that had a connection. Things like Cervantes and Damien’s vendetta against Raphael.

I couldn’t talk about any of those things without diving into truths that will break us apart.

Or rather one main truth—that I was supposed to kill her.

I know I have to talk to her about everything soon though and it will mean accepting what the right thing to do is when it comes to her.

The shitty thing about that is I’ve always known the answer. I’ve just never been able to do it.

The right answer has always been to leave her alone. Now that I have her back, I’m a selfish bastard again especially when it comes to her safety.

Raphael wants to kill her after her birthday. Pasha wants her dead too.

I can’t allow either of them the pleasure of her death.

Aiden gets up, cutting into my thoughts, and makes two cups of coffee.

It smells strong from the waft that drifts toward me.

Good, I need it.

“I think we need to focus on finding Raphael first,” he declares. “Grigori will search for him, but Pasha will pull out all the stops to keep him hidden.”

“I agree.” I nod firmly. “Realistically, at this point, I don’t care whose bullet takes Raphael down as long as he dies, but it’s going to take longer if we leave it to Grigori. I want Pasha dead too, Aiden. I can’t begin to describe the rage I feel toward that motherfucker.”

“I can see it, Lucca. I feel it for you too. Do not forget I knew your family very well. I worked with your father myself. Not to mention the business I’ve had with Pasha and the Yurkov. He’s played all of us, so this cuts me deep.” He holds out his palms. “It’s just going to be difficult to get him. I’m not going to sugarcoat that. You know me, I don’t care who I take on. I always get what I want, and you’re a man like me. However, I deal in facts and being sensible about the way I strike. We can’t just kill him. We have to cut him down first, or the whole Bratva will come for us.”

I know this. Right now, I just don’t care.

“They’ll come for you and your family,” he adds, and that’s when I pay attention. “When you’re by yourself, you can be as reckless as you want to be. But when you have people who rely on you to keep them safe, you have to work in different ways to get the same result.”

“I hear you.”

“Good, because from what Aria said, it also looks like he’s linked to Tobias Rivera. Knowing Raphael was involved with him was one thing, but Pasha is bigger. It suggests he’s doing shit behind his father’s back. Shit he can pull off through his lackey, Raphael.”

“Yes, and like an idiot, I declared Raphael’s involvement with Tobias, when that fucking Pasha already knew what was going on. Pasha most likely knew about everything else too, like the missing millions.”

“Of course he did, and he wouldn’t have liked that you spilled Raphael’s secrets to his father.”

“That chip was never really going to make a dent.”

“It would have with Grigori,” he points out. “He’d want nothing to do with the Camorra.”

“No, he wouldn’t. He can just about stand the meager alliance we have with some of the Italians in L.A. Pasha obviously seized the opportunity for what it was. The Bratva and Camorra would be a powerful alliance and having the Governor of California who deals with organ trafficking would add to their arsenal of wealth.”

“Yes, and don’t forget Pasha is well on his way to being Pakhan. Grigori is eighty-seven now. Pasha will make all the changes he wants when his father dies or retires. Until then, he’s obviously setting things up.”

“Aiden, I think I want to find out what this big secret is. I think if it’s something that would affect the Brotherhood or place them at risk, I might be able to get to Pasha that way. Grigori is too blind to see who his son really is. He won’t be swayed without hard evidence.”

“I think that’s a good idea. I’ll get Gibbs and Eric to work on looking for Gina. If she’s been off-grid for years, it’s going to take our best men to find her. Me, you and Maksim can focus on looking for Raphael, but I need you to have some down time first.”

I shake my head at the suggestion. “I can’t have downtime in this type of climate. I need to be on the streets searching for Raphael too.” I would go crazy if I were just a sitting duck.

“Take a day or two, Merciless. You’re still recovering, and you won’t be any good to anyone dead. Besides, I think Aria needs you.”

I release a sigh. “I don’t know if I’m what she needs.”

“It doesn’t matter. Be what she needs.” He leans closer. “God knows what that monster did to her while she was at that house.”

I nod. He’s right.

When I told him why I’d become an enemy to the Bratva I told him what Pasha did to Aria.

“I’m nervous to ask if he hurt her again.” I’d go crazy and kill every motherfucker if he tried to rape her again.

“Take care in asking her. She looks fragile.”

“I know.” That’s the first thing I thought when I saw her. She’d lost weight too and there was barely anything of her as it was. “I’m going to make him pay.”

“Make sure when you kill him, you shoot his fucking dick off.”

I nod. “I plan to.”

The kitchen door opens, and Eric comes in.

“I got everything set up at your house,” he informs me.

“Thank you. So, it’s really safe to go back?” Eric has some special abilities I’ve never even heard of.

“Definitely. I used a cloaking device so no one can track your movements with your vehicles, and I set up your security system to play a prerecorded loop to any unauthorized users trying to hack the system. I also got you and your wife new phones that are untraceable.”

Fuck, this guy is definitely of a different level of technology. “Thanks, I owe you one.”

“Alexei and Damien have both made contact, but I would advise you not to respond. It seems they are loyal to you, but I wouldn’t take risks like that. For that reason, I have not made them aware you are with us.”

“Good, no one must know,” Aiden cuts in. “We keep things under wraps as best as possible and travel between my house and yours. I’m sending my men to guard your house. No one will question that. If they think to, it will look like they were checking the place out in case you returned. Grigori and Pasha will expect me to follow orders, but they don’t know me.”

“Thanks. I need to find some way of speaking to Damien. I just want to warn him about Pasha.”

“Then I suggest you speak to him on the phone,” Eric answers. “With my set up, no one can track you even if they’re tracking him.”

“Be careful of what you say, Lucca,” Aiden warns.

I plan to heed that warning.

* * *

“Damien, it’s me,” I say, pressing the phone to my ear.

I’m back at my house, and Aria is upstairs in our room resting.

This was the first chance I got to call him.

“Jesus, Lucca. Where are you?”

“I can’t say. I wanted to let you know I’m safe, and I’ll make contact as soon as I can.”

He sighs. “Why didn’t you tell me about Ivy?”

“I couldn’t. I knew the consequences for you and for me.”

“Is everything you said true about Pasha?”

“Yes, you need to be careful of him. He knows who Gina Delatorre is, which means he had some part to play in Timothy’s death and my family’s. You need to be careful, Damien.”

“How did you find that out?”

“I have Aria. She told me. She was able to tell me a lot. Her father also tried to get back legal guardianship over her. Of course, now that I have her, that’s not happening.”

“I don’t know how you managed to get her back, but it looks like our plans are back on track.”

“They are. I will contact you as soon as I can, and we can discuss the next steps for the company.” Those words feel wrong to me.

As wrong as the previous plan to kill my wife.

“My thanks to you, moy syn. Be safe.”

I hang up, and when I walk back into my bedroom and see my wife lying on the bed asleep, I feel like the devil again.

I’m using her too, just like everybody else. And she knows it.

It was easier to be the devil when I hadn’t acknowledged my true feelings for her.

The ghosts in this house are doing a number on my conscience again, telling me to open my eyes and think about everything in its entirety.

Her mother did everything she could to make sure her daughter got the company, and I’m doing everything I can to take it away from her.

My actions will never be right, no matter my reasons and my promises to Damien or anybody else.

In the end, I’ll still be the devil, and I’ll still break her heart.